AN UPDATE - FINALLY!!!

Hi Everyone!
We are back home. Been home for about a week now (it's taken that long to catch up on sleep)! Just kidding - although I did have some serious jet lag. But I am back home now and went right back into the full swing of things. I've been debating on how to do the next post. There are so many pictures we wanted to share and I didn't want it to be a HUGE post, so I guess I'm going to break it down the way I would've if I were able to blog in South Africa. Today I'll finish the safari post. I know we left off on Day 1 of Safari, to continue that story, we woke up early the next morning and went on the sunrise safari. It was gorgeous!!! We went to a different area of the game lodge - we went up the mountain and checked out the animals there.


This is where we had all our meals. It was so beautiful, and nice and quiet. I especially enjoyed eating outside - it was wonderful.One thing that I thought was really cool, was just about everywhere we went folks used skeleton keys. How cool! Even in the hotels. I think they're such neat keys.When we got back to our room there was this big, green, bug in our room. So we called one of the gentlemen over to remove the bug. He kind of laughed at us - and then told us a Praying Mantis is considered a good luck sign if you find one in your house. Obviously we are foreigners - we just wanted the bug out.Day two we started out on the Sunrise Safari. It was beautiful. I actually much prefer the sunrise safari to the sunset safari. We came across this pond on our drive out. It was so beautiful. There was steam on the water and the sun was just coming up. The water reflected the surrounding scene - it was almost magical. As we went up the mountainside we came across some Kudu. These are beautiful little animals. (They also make a tasty Biltong! *Biltong is their version of Jerky - it's way better too.)Next we saw the Rhinos. VERY cool. There were 4 of them all traveling together. At one point we were so close I took a picture of one of the Rhinos and my shadow is on the Rhinos face - we were that close.Then we were driving around and I saw these Wart Hogs coming out of the ground. There was a whole pile of them in that hole! They just kept coming out. As ugly as they are - I think they're just super cute!Here's a shot from the front. Aren't they cool looking!?!Here's a shot of Leah and I being silly.We came upon a herd of Zebras. They were beautiful. They seemed very peaceful and content to graze in the sun. Michelle told us when her family goes on safari the kids get points for each animal they spot. But if they spot a zebra they get docked points because there are so many zebras around. (So here's my zebra picture, you'll have to dock me!) :)Directly after spending time with the peaceful zebras we came upon a group of Water Buffalo. The ranger told us more people are killed by each year by Water Buffalo than any other creature in South Africa. So as we came upon them this buffalo started to charge us. Luckily his friends took off the other way and he got distracted, but it was really scary there for a bit!We stopped for a restroom break and just outside the walkway to the bathroom was this little beauty. It's called a Black and Yellow Argiope Spider. Thank goodness none of us walked into it's web!Here's a picture of us in the Land Cruiser.

After our encounter with the Water Buffalo and the big spider, Leah and I decided we needed to relax. So we signed up for a massage and one of the neighboring camps. We were driven over and along with an amazing massage we got to enjoy this view. It was so peaceful and quiet. What an absolutely wonderful time we had on safari!!!

BUMMED!!!

Ok, we're seriously bummed. We've got some great photos to share - that help tell our South Africa story and Blogger won't let us upload!!! We leave Friday for Jeffery's Bay, so maybe we'll have a stronger connection there. Sorry guys. We can say, we're having a fantastic time, we've made PILES of new friends and we've never eaten so much meat in our lives! We visited a winery today - we came back to the hotel room and ate cheese picnic style right off our bed. Yep, we're party animals. We promise to post pictures as soon as we can.
Blessings,
Aubrey & Leah

SOUTH AFRICA UPDATE

Hi Everyone!

Sorry it's taken so long to update. The Internet connections here in South Africa have been inconsistent. We've only just been able to get a pretty steady connection. And it seems blogger refuses to let me upload any photos right now. I have to give a quick shout-out to my good friend, Melisa Sanchez. It was Melisa's b-day on March 4th - and I promised I'd post her a happy b-day note on her b-day, but unfortunately I was unable to get internet 'til now. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISA - love ya chickie!

I will say we have had a WONDERFUL time here in South Africa. The people are incredibly FRIENDLY! The women have all been so sweet - and very, very creative. What a group of genuinely hospitable folks. I can't say enough about how kind they are.

Our classes have been going well. I think we've sold out everywhere. We've been incredibly blessed. Michelle has really put on a snazzy event. The ladies have been pampered and really treated - that's the way these things should be I think - it's those things you remember.

We've been on safari, we've been to Johannesburg (which they call JoBurg), we flew to Durban, and now we've flown to Cape Town. We're in Cape Town for a couple more days, then we're off to Jeffery's Bay. I believe we're flying into a place called Port Elizabeth. So we're excited to visit there.

It's been so neat getting to really see the different regions of South Africa. JoBurg is kinda big city - with it's different sections of town. Great restaurants and shopping. Neat things to see. Durban was near the sea and had it's different sections too. It was very humid in Durban. The people at the hotel we stayed at were wonderful! I also had the best shrimp I've ever had in my entire life in Durban. Yum!!! Now we're in Cape Town and their Wharf reminds me of the Wharf in San Francisco. Very nice. The weather is PERFECT! We even got a tiny bit of rain today. (Folks that know me, know that I LOVE RAIN! - product of being a desert girl.)

I will try and post again in the morning. I don't want to give away too much because I want to post notes with the pictures. Leah and I would like to thank you all for your prayers while we're away - and your interest in our travels. We really are having a good time together, and we're happy that the Road Show is going over so well. Michelle has been the best hostess - no one could've asked for more. I also can't tell you what an incredible staff Michelle has - they've all worked together to make this trip incredible.

Blessings,
Aubrey & Leah

SAFARI PICTURS - DAY 1

Let's start at the beginning shall we?! As we entered the gate to the game range the first thing we saw was zebras, a giraffe, and monkeys. The monkeys were way to fast to catch a picture of, the zebras were so close I didn't get a great picture, but the giraffe - ahhh...the lovely giraffe, he posed very nicely for us. (This picture is especially for our friend Kate!!!)Next we checked into the lodge. They greeted us curbside as we pulled up. They unloaded our luggage, offered us fresh juice, and took us to our tent. Here's a picture of Leah "going in". It's really a super cute tent. We feel like we're back at summer camp!We had time to get freshened up a bit, then it was time to head out to safari. Michael introduced himself and said he'd be our ranger during our entire stay. The rangers really do everything for you. They come by your tent to give you a wake up call in the morning; if you have to drive somewhere - they will take you. They have all their meals with you as well. Michael has been very nice.The first animal we came across on safari was an Impala. They're so beautiful and there's tons of them out here.

The animal we saw next was an ostrich. The ostrich came right up to the truck and was pecking at it. It almost got our friend Sindy's bottom. When we left it ran right beside the truck for a long time.We were on our way to try and find lions and we had to cross over this little pond. It was the most incredible pond, the water almost seemed to be magical in how well it reflected everything around it. The water itself was not pretty or even clean, but the reflection on top of it was astounding. **Coming back that night we were using a big searchlight to look for lions and shining the light on the water we were able, even then, to get a reflection of the trees around it.**It was getting pretty close to sundown and we came across this Wilde beast. He had his back to us and then it was almost as though he realized we were taking pictures and he posed to give us this great shot. I really like Wilde beast - I think they have incredible faces.

That's it for Day 1 of the safari. We ended the evening without seeing lions, but we did see:

Impala

Ostrich

Monkeys

Giraffes

Kudu

Hyena

Jackal

Wart hogs

Thanks for checking in on us. We're having an amazing time and appreciate all your prayers. Every one here has been incredibly kind and the food is terrific!

Blessings,

Aubrey & Leah

SAFARI

I keep getting kicked off the Internet, so I am going to keep this post very small. We LOVED the safari. We are staying in "tents" on the game reserve. We're not allowed out at night by ourselves because the wild animals are roaming around out there. We've heard the lions tonight. Apparently there are 8 of them on the grounds. We saw all kinds of animals. (Not the lions though). Here's a couple of quick shots. Ok, scratch that, Blogger won't let me upload any photos right now. I promise to try tomorrow morning. We have a 5:30 AM wake up call for the 6 AM sunrise safari. So, I guess we ought to try to get some sleep now.
Blessings,
Aubrey & Leah

SOUTH AFRICA

Ok, we made it. We're here safe and sound. Our flights were incredibly long, but not bad. Customs took us 2 hours to get through once we arrived, but now that we're here it's just wonderful. We were picked up at the airport by Michelle. She took us to our hotel where we freshened up and we were whisked away to dinner. Here's a peek out our hotel window.We ate at a restaurant at the Nelson Mandela Plaza. It was terrific. We had Ostrich and Crocodile for dinner. I also had a beef jerky salad (SOOOO good). All of the food was wonderful. Here's a shot of Michelle and her family. What a wonderfully sweet, beautiful family they are.Here's a shot of Michelle being painted before dinner. This was so much fun. They also came by with a vessel and bowl to clean our hands at the dinner table.

Here's a shot of Leah and I with our face painted. This was a lot of fun.

This is a shot of the restaurant where we ate. There were no outside walls. Just to the right of us out the center of the plaza. There was a water fountain (the kind with the water that spurts up) for the kids to play in - and lots of shops. What a neat place. The hotel we'll be staying at Friday is right near the plaza. I'm hoping to have more shots then to share.

This is going to be a short post. We've got to get downstairs to leave for safari. We'll be at safari for a couple of days. I'm hoping to get great shots. We're having a great time and are doing well. Thank you for your prayers!

Blessings,

Aubrey